Mobile-first Strategy: Should you ever build something first on Web?

In this video, the speaker delves into the concept of a mobile-first strategy, emphasizing its significance in product development. They define a mobile-first approach as prioritizing mobile devices when building applications or products, highlighting its flexibility alongside other strategies like feature-driven or web-first approaches. Through personal examples, they illustrate the implementation of this strategy, acknowledging the importance of considering user behavior and device dependency in decision-making. The speaker suggests starting with mobile development first, given the prevalence of mobile device usage, while also mentioning the possibility of parallel development if resources permit. Overall, the transcript underscores the adaptability of a mobile-first approach and its potential to enhance user experience across different platforms.

Summary

Introduction to Mobile-First Strategy

• Explanation of what a mobile-first strategy entails.
• Clarification that not everything about it may be immediately clear to everyone.

Understanding Mobile-First Strategy

• Defining a mobile-first strategy as building a product or application with mobile as the primary consideration.

Implementation and Examples

• Personal example of implementing a mobile-first strategy in the context of web and native mobile apps.
• Discussion on how mobile-first strategy is not necessarily exclusive; it could coexist with other strategies like feature-driven or web-first approaches.

Feature Considerations

• Explanation of how certain features might be more suitable for web interfaces due to requiring more real estate.
• Discussion on supporting features differently on mobile compared to the web.

Importance and Decision Making

• Emphasis on considering user behavior and device dependency when deciding whether to adopt a mobile-first approach.
• Suggestion to possibly start with mobile development first, especially given the prevalence of mobile device usage.

Parallel Development Consideration

• Brief mention of parallel development if resources permit, but acknowledgment that it’s outside the immediate scope of the conversation.

Conclusion

• Reiteration of the flexibility of a mobile-first approach and the possibility of combining it with other strategies as needed.

Podcast

Check out on Spotify.

Transcript

0:07
Hey there. In this video, let’s talk about a mobile-first strategy and what that means. It’s fairly obvious to a lot of folks, but I still want to discuss it because not everything is crystal clear, and what’s obvious to you may not be so to somebody else. So, a mobile-first strategy essentially means that you’re building your product or application with mobile in mind, making it the primary focus or even the sole focus.

0:34
Or perhaps not the sole focus, but if it is, what exactly does mobile-first entail? I suppose it implicitly suggests that you’re developing more than one client interface, and one of them is mobile, but you’re initiating the process with mobile in mind. That’s the essence of it. So in our case, we began with the web app a few months ago.

0:51
I mean, we’ve had the HTML file app alongside the web app, but we only recently launched the native mobile apps a few weeks back. So, up until this point, it wasn’t a native mobile-first approach in that sense. And that’s precisely why I wanted to make this video because often when you encounter this concept in articles… Excuse me, let’s just wait for this plane to pass.

1:12
Sorry about that interruption. We live near an airport, so there’s quite a bit of air traffic, especially on days like these. Okay, apologies. So, back to my point. It’s not necessarily an either-or scenario, meaning your approach isn’t strictly confined to being either mobile-first or not.

1:31
It could also be feature-driven. For example, there are certain features that require more screen real estate, so it’s preferable to develop them for web interfaces first. So you could have a web-first strategy, if such a term exists, but you get the idea. You could start by implementing those features on your web interfaces and later transition them to your mobile apps.

1:54
You might not replicate all the functionalities from the web; you could offer a subset or implement them differently. Let’s delve into that in another video. But for now, let’s consider the example of a feature primarily driven by web usage that might also have mobile support, albeit a limited subset.

2:15
It could differ from how you serve the user within the context of that feature on the web. On the other hand, you might develop another feature within the same product with a mobile-first strategy because you anticipate that users are more likely to engage in that particular activity on their mobile devices, perhaps even as much as on the web.

2:38
If it’s equally split, then I suppose you could choose either platform. But given our heavy reliance on mobile devices these days, starting with mobile development might be the more prudent choice and then expanding to the web. Of course, with a larger team, you could potentially work on both simultaneously, but that’s beyond the scope of this conversation or monologue.

3:01
So, that’s the distinction. Mobile-first means beginning development with a focus on mobile, but don’t view it as always being mutually exclusive. Some aspects may be mobile-first while others could be web-first. Keep that flexibility in mind.

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